Pick a book. Grow a Reader!
This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!
Real-life crime reporter Hilde Lysiak is starring in her very own early chapter book series -- inspired by real news stories she has written! In this fourth book, a UFO has been spotted in town! Everyone is convinced aliens are invading, but Hilde isn't so sure... Hilde and her sister/photographer, Izzy, interview witnesses and follow the facts. And they soon discover what looks like the wreckage of a spaceship! Hilde has cracked all sorts of cases, but how will she solve this one? It is truly out of this world! Joanne Lew-Vriethoff's personality-filled illustrations appear on every page, bringing Hilde's adventures to life for young readers!
Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is the acclaimed illustrator of many picture books, including
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty, named among
School Library Journal's 2016 Books with a Message. She is a Mom's Choice Gold Award medal winner whose illustrations can be found in
The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli and
Peace, Baby! by Linda Ashman. Joanne also is the illustrator of the Hilde Cracks the Case series by Hilde Lysiak. She lives in Amsterdam with her husband and two children.
Matthew Lysiak
Matthew Lysiak is a nationally recognized journalist and author. He has reported for the
New York Daily News,
Newsweek, the
New York Sun,
AM New York, and the
Guardian. He has also appeared as a contributor on
The Today Show, MSNBC, and countless other media outlets to discuss his work. He coauthored the young adult memoir of teen scientist Jack Andraka,
Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World, and was the author of
Newtown: An American Tragedy. Matthew is cowriting the Branches early chapter book series Hilde Cracks the Case with his daughter, Hilde Kate Lysiak.
Hilde Lysiak
Hilde Lysiak is the 11-year-old publisher of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania's newspaper, the
Orange Street News. The paper has 700+ paid subscribers and is read by thousands more online. Hilde's journalism efforts have been profiled by the
New York Times,
Columbia Journalism Review, NBC
Today, and hundreds of other newspapers and television stations around the world. Hilde is cowriting the Scholastic Branches series Hilde Cracks the Case with her dad, Matthew Lysiak.
